


Snow Day

by Spectrospecs



Category: Baccano!
Genre: Baccano Secret Santa gift for YuPuffin!, F/M, ITS SO FLUFFY IM GONNA DIE, theres a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 08:01:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9063358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spectrospecs/pseuds/Spectrospecs
Summary: In late December of 1933, New York City was paralyzed by nearly twelve inches of snowfall in one day. Icy antics ensue.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [YuPuffin](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=YuPuffin).



> Everything in this fic, from the timing and amount of snowfall to the prices of subway tickets, is as historically accurate as I could get it.

New York City

1933

Late December

"Yes. Understood. Yes sir, you too. Goodbye."

Firo set the phone back on the receiver and walked into the kitchen of the small apartment he shared. His roommates were at the table, lingering over mugs of morning coffee. Firo poured himself a cup as he relayed the news from the phone call.

"It's official. Offices are closed today." 

Czes set down his mug, frowning slightly. "Is the snow really that bad?"

"Yeah. Ronny's thinkin' we might end up with a solid foot of it, the way it's comin' down out there.” Firo pulled aside a curtain, watching the blur of snowflakes behind the glass. “The whole city's practically frozen."

"Is everyone alright?" Ennis asked. "I can't remember the last time we had a storm this bad."

"Maiza's been callin' around to make sure folks are okay. So far everyone's fine, and a couple of the guys volunteered to help Seina dig out the Alveare. As for us, Maiza just said to enjoy the day off."  
"That could be a little difficult," Ennis said, taking another sip of coffee. "It's not like we can do much, stuck inside like this."

"Well, we don't have to be stuck inside."

Czes shrugged. “What are we supposed to do outside?”

A thought struck Firo, and his eyebrows furrowed.

"You… have neither of you had a real snow day before?"

Both of his roommates immediately grew defensive, and spoke over each other in their haste to correct Firo.

“I’ve probably seen more snowy days than you.”

"It's snowed here plenty of times, you know that.”

Firo held up a hand against the sudden onslaught.

“No, no, I didn’t mean whether or not you’ve seen snow. I mean, have you had a _snow day_? Where the kids are all let out of school and they spend all day buildin’ snowmen and havin’ snowball fights and sledding?”

Ennis and Czeslaw shared a dubious glance. After a moment, Czes shrugged and Ennis gave a slight shake of her head. A smile grew on Firo's face, and he set down his coffee. 

“Let's do it! Let’s go, just the three of us! We’ll have our first real snow day as… uh, roommates.”

Czes sighed softly, then a smile crept onto his face. “Why not. What’s the harm, right?”

Ennis glanced from Firo’s excited grin to Czeslaw’s gentle smile. She was clearly unsure, but her friends’ excitement eventually softened her doubt. “Well, a day in the snow might be… nice.”

After lunch, all three bundled into coats, hats, and scarves. When everyone was suitably protected from the elements, Firo opened the door that led to the street. Snowflakes still swirled down, turning the   
air fuzzy, and the blanket of snow was so thick that the boundary between street and sidewalk was anyone’s guess. 

Ennis and Firo gingerly stepped outside. The snow almost came up to their knees. Firo turned back to see if Czes was able to walk through the snow, only to see his diminutive roommate still standing inside. His soft smile had transformed into a smirk and he had one hand on the doorknob. Firo pulled up short. 

“Hey, Czes…”

Czes interrupted him, speaking too quickly for anyone else to get a word in edgewise. “Sorry, but if I take one step into that I’ll be buried before either of you knew it. You know, I think I’ll stay in today, but don’t let me stop you. I’ll make hot chocolate when you get home. You two have fun now!” Just before the door swung shut, Firo was sure that he’d seen him wink.

“Wait a second! Czes!” He almost ran back inside, but decided against it. There was no changing that guy's mind. He shoved his hands in his pockets, then looked at Ennis with a wry expression. 

"Sorry about that. If you, uh, still want to go, you know, the two of us could just…" Firo hoped desperately that she would assume the flush in his cheeks was due to the cold. 

"Oh, um, yes! I mean, we're already…" She stumbled over the sentence, but offered a stiff smile.

With a slightly awkward nod, Firo set off towards the subway station. Ennis walked beside him, her hands in the pockets of her coat. Her gloves were starting to wear out, and she was considering replacing them before the end of the season. As her mind wandered, weighing the options of whether to get new gloves, and if so, where to buy them, she didn't notice Firo shooting nervous glances in her direction every few seconds. 

Eventually, they reached the entrance to the subway. The station was much emptier than usual; many businesses aside from Alveare must have closed their doors for the day. As they dug in their pockets for fare, Firo griped. "Just last year it only cost a nickel and now it's double that. What's next? A dollar?" Still, there was no help for it, so they handed over their definitely-legally-earned dimes and boarded the train bound for Central Park.

When they arrived, it seemed like almost every kid in the city had converged on the park. The white expanse was scattered with children playing in the snow. Some were attempting to construct igloos or forts, some were pelting each other with snowballs, some were building snowmen, and some were destroying the snowmen other kids made. A couple of groups seemed to be doing all four at the same time. Though most of them were young, Firo spotted a group of older teens and young adults on the far side of the field. One of them stood slightly off to the side and waved his arms around while the rest built a snowman around… was that a giant monkey wrench? Nah. He was probably just seeing things. 

The pair found a relatively untrodden patch. After a quick survey of their materials, Firo scooped up a handful of snow and packed it into a ball. He offered it to Ennis. 

"If we were gonna have a snowball fight, these would be our ammo. But for snowmen, we gotta roll these around until they're really big, then stack 'em up. If you'll do the middle one, I'll get going on the base. How's that sound?"

Ennis smiled and took the proffered snowball. Firo turned back the other way, hunkered down, and got to work on the arduous process of snowman construction. Ennis almost did the same, then a thrilled shriek carried over from one of the groups of children, and she paused. A full-on snowball battle was underway halfway across the field, with at least a dozen kids locked in icy combat. All of them were laughing and screeching with joy as they dashed back and forth across the battlefield. 

_That looks like fun._

The thought drifted into her mind. Suddenly, she was aware of the chill of the snowball in her gloved hand. She glanced towards Firo, an impulse beginning to build. His back was still turned. He was totally focused on his snowman base, which was beginning to get large enough that it took some effort to roll. He hadn't seemed to notice that she hadn't started building hers yet. He definitely hadn't noticed that her expression had shifted to a sly grin.

Firo gave the base another shove, and the mound of snow lurched forward another foot or so. Man, every time he made one of these, he forgot how tough they got to roll. He straightened up, cracking his back. By the way, how was Ennis doing? He probably ought to check - 

A stinging impact slammed into the back of his head, knocking off his favorite fedora. He staggered forward a step, then whirled around, searching for the source of the sudden attack. Ennis was frozen in a pitcher's stance. A look of total surprise was written across her face. When their eyes met, she hastily tucked her hands in her pockets and rearranged her expression into a disarming smile. 

For a moment, neither of them said a word. Then, a laugh started to build in Firo's throat. He shook his head slightly. "Well, I didn't see that com-iiiiiieeEEEEE!" He stiffened, then started pawing at the back of his neck, hopping around a little. A bit of slush had fallen out of his hair and slipped past the collar of his coat, sending icy fingers down his back. It was quite a spectacle. Ennis couldn't help but giggle.

At the sound of her soft laughter, Firo stopped in his tracks. His face was beet red. Ennis stifled her giggling, but her smile kept creeping back as she spoke. 

"I'm sorry, but you were sort of wide open." She picked up Firo's hat from the ground and brushed off the snow that clung to the fine wool. "I didn't mean to get snow down your coat, but you have to admit," she said, holding out his hat to him, "That really was funny."

Firo sighed, then accepted his hat back with a quiet laugh. "And you know, I was the one who suggested it in the first place. I really set myself up for that one, didn't I?" He settled the fedora back on his head, then offered a conciliatory hand to Ennis. "What do you think about calling a truce?"

She smiled. "Truce," she said, giving his hand a firm shake. 

With the ceasefire in effect, they both went back to work on making a snowman. It had been years and years since Firo had done it, and Ennis had no prior experience. As a result, they were working for longer than either of them anticipated. After all the rolling, stacking, and scavenging for decorations was complete, the pair took a step back to admire their creation. 

In a word, it was… wonky. The proportions of the snowballs weren't quite right, and it listed slightly to the left. The other kids had taken all of the good branches to use for arms, so theirs had a twig on one side and a wooden stake on the other. A pinecone served as a nose and some pebbles etched out an asymmetric smile with vacant eyes.

Firo was the first to speak. 

"You know, this guy isn't half bad."

Ennis nodded. "He certainly has promise."

"I mean, give him a necktie and a nice fedora and he'd look pretty sharp, I think."

"He could be a valuable asset to the Family. Just look at that cold expression."

Firo laughed. "You're right. No matter what, he'll never talk."

Just then, the streetlamps flickered to life around the edges of the park. They looked around in surprise. Neither of them had noticed the light beginning to fade. Firo sighed. "You know, I never expect it to get dark so early, even though the same thing happens every year." He looked over at Ennis. "Well, what do you think? Call it a day?"

She smiled. "Probably. We wouldn't want Czes to worry."

With a final nod to their snow-friend, the pair started walking away. However, before they'd gone fifty feet, they heard a commotion from behind them. One of the last lingering groups of children had rushed over as soon as the two adults had turned their backs, and immediately set to work demolishing the snowman. In no time at all, their creation was no more than a pile of icy rubble, and the children had dashed off to find their next victim. 

They were silent for a second. Then Firo solemnly removed his hat and held it against his heart in salute. He looked at Ennis with a hardboiled light in his eyes. 

"You gotta be prepared for certain losses in this line of work. But every so often, it hits home what kinda risks you accept by livin' a life of crime."

She laughed softly, and without another word, they left the park behind them. 

The subway ride passed in a blur. Too soon, they trudged around a corner, and spotted their apartment building a few blocks away. Fat snowflakes had begun to fall again, glowing gold as they passed through the light of the streetlamps. The whole city seemed muffled. The only sound came from the crunch of their shoes in the drifted snow.

The wind picked up, sending snow swirling and cutting through the fabric of Ennis's gloves. She rubbed her hands together, trying to work some warmth back into her fingers. 

She felt a nudge at her elbow. 

Firo's hand was waiting there, palm up. He didn't say a word. He wasn't even looking at her, though there was a definite pink tinge to his cheeks. Only his open hand asked an unspoken question. A moment's hesitation, and then Ennis silently placed her hand in his. 

Even through the fabric of their gloves, his hand was warm. As he felt the chill of her fingers, he softly rubbed his thumb back and forth across hers. 

Not a word was exchanged until they reached the door of their apartment building. The hush of the falling snow seemed to disapprove of any other noise. And besides, the gentle pressure of his hand around hers said more than enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought in the comments!
> 
> And of course, Merry Christmas, Yu!


End file.
